Duncan Grimmond Posted January 19 Posted January 19 I'm slowly making progress and am now looking for a revolving base for the front passenger seat. There seems to be a wide range in "universal" and specific with a wide range of prices. Anyone have any personal experience or a particular favourite? Any opinions/experiences gratefully received
Rojie Posted January 19 Posted January 19 1 hour ago, Duncan Grimmond said: I'm slowly making progress and am now looking for a revolving base for the front passenger seat. There seems to be a wide range in "universal" and specific with a wide range of prices. Anyone have any personal experience or a particular favourite? Any opinions/experiences gratefully received Beware universal units. they may not fit; many are made for VWs. NorthStar )IOW) are the only company I know that supply and fit these in units. Note supply and fit. They do not, or did not, supply only. At the time of my enquiry they only provided units suitable for Gen 1 vehicles.
Duncan Grimmond Posted January 19 Author Posted January 19 IoW is a long (and expensive trip) for a seat...2 days, 280miles each way, ferry plus seat and fitting?. I'd call that exploitative!
Rojie Posted January 19 Posted January 19 2 hours ago, Duncan Grimmond said: IoW is a long (and expensive trip) for a seat...2 days, 280miles each way, ferry plus seat and fitting?. I'd call that exploitative! I didn't say it was a cheap solution ! Although it does help to create significant floor space . I don't think it is exploitative; there is a choice. They are a conversion company, so distance (for the seat) isn't a factor. I don't think you get a seat, they use yours ! They also happen to be, imho, one of the best companies you will find. Try Funky Ram, enquire whether they can supply a swivel unit. With any swivel modification make sure you understand the increase in passenger seat height; it can be a problem for tall passengers. And, last but not least, make sure you inform your Insurance company of the modification.
Duncan Grimmond Posted January 19 Author Posted January 19 (edited) Thanks for that. I. had looked at them for a full conversion but as they are so far away from N.Yorks I'd dismissed them. I'll look into Funky Ram. Fortunately neither of Ius is particularly tall. I didn't notice the change of seat height in the Regius camper we use to have... Sorry to keep pestering for information but I have no other source of experience and inside knowledge. I now have the rear seats on the workshop floor but cannot see how to extract the sliding bearers from the tracks. I have removed one of the front "stop ends" held by a single M5 hex screw but that doesn't help and so I suppose I'll have to refit it. I cannot see how to dismantle the seat carrier/fore-aft sliding base mounts. Any help or tips gratefully received... Edited January 19 by Duncan Grimmond more info
Rojie Posted January 19 Posted January 19 2 minutes ago, Duncan Grimmond said: Sorry to keep pestering for information but I have no other source of experience and inside knowledge. I now have the rear seats on the workshop floor but cannot see how to extract the sliding bearers from the tracks. I have removed one of the front "stop ends" held by a single M5 hex screw but that doesn't help and so I suppose I'll have to refit it. I cannot see how to dismantle the seat carrier/fore-aft sliding base mounts. Any help or tips gratefully received... Hi again, I haven't done this myself, but I seem to remember my convertor having to remove, or partially remove, the seat rails to slide the seat carriers out. On your model the seat rails are accessible from inside the van, but, the carpet and sound deadening underfloor material will need to come out first. I believe the nuts are captive, so refitting the rails (if that's what you intend, should be straightforward.
Duncan Grimmond Posted January 22 Author Posted January 22 (edited) I now have all the seats and tracks removed. The carpet , underlay and sound insulation must be removed and this exposes the mounting bolts. These are set with a very high torque and I needed to deploy the impact driver with the largest hammerI have ! The disadvantage of all this is that it left 18 or so holes in the floor so I've greased all the bolts with copper-slip and refitted them. I am assuming the R&R bed will need to be fitted into some of the holes but in the meantime I've re-fitted the foam and loose-laid the underlay. I'm hoping to get a plywood floor into place (but unfixed ) ready for the pop top fitting on Friday. Has anyone any hints on popping off the lower rear wheel arch cover panels? I'm sure they must detach relatively easily but am resisting the urge to just writhe them off for fear of damage. I need access to take out the sliding seat tracks... Does anyone out there need a set of seats? All in good condition and ready to fit, £250.00 the lot, collection only Edited January 22 by Duncan Grimmond spelling, again!
Rojie Posted January 22 Posted January 22 1 hour ago, Duncan Grimmond said: I now have all the seats and tracks removed. The carpet , underlay and sound insulation must be removed and this exposes the mounting bolts. These are set with a very high torque and I needed to deploy the impact driver with the largest hammerI have ! The disadvantage of all this is that it left 18 or so holes in the floor so I've greased all the bolts with copper-slip and refitted them. I am assuming the R&R bed will need to be fitted into some of the holes but in the meantime I've re-fitted the foam and loose-laid the underlay. I'm hoping to get a plywood floor into place (but unfixed ) ready for the pop top fitting on Friday. Has anyone any hints on popping off the lower rear wheel arch cover panels? I'm sure they must detach relatively easily but am resisting the urge to just writhe them off for fear of damage. I need access to take out the sliding seat tracks... Does anyone out there need a set of seats? All in good condition and ready to fit, £250.00 the lot, collection only You need to explain the seat finish and colour to potential buyers, and whether you have a 7 or 8 seater ! I think most convertors use the medical type flooring, not plywood. Are you planning on using marine ply ?
Duncan Grimmond Posted January 30 Author Posted January 30 The seats are two tone grey two rears and three mid row reversible. I'm using ordinary ply but will be laying vinyl flooring over it (sand and spilled wine doncha know!) with a proggy mat However, I'll look up medical flooring...
nov Posted February 3 Posted February 3 On 1/19/2024 at 10:00 AM, Duncan Grimmond said: I'm slowly making progress and am now looking for a revolving base for the front passenger seat. There seems to be a wide range in "universal" and specific with a wide range of prices. Anyone have any personal experience or a particular favourite? Any opinions/experiences gratefully received This is what you need https://autocraftmotorcaravans.co.uk/product/toyota-alphard-passenger-swivel-seat-base/ used by most of the converters including Northstar. If you need help with the fitting, New Dawn Conversions(Midlands) are selling and fitting these as well. 1
Rojie Posted February 3 Posted February 3 1 hour ago, nov said: This is what you need https://autocraftmotorcaravans.co.uk/product/toyota-alphard-passenger-swivel-seat-base/ used by most of the converters including Northstar. If you need help with the fitting, New Dawn Conversions(Midlands) are selling and fitting these as well. Have you got one fitted to you Alphie ? Not an unreasonable price, imho, for the convenience. Does the console between the front seats need to be removed (to allow the rotation) ? On vans I have seen, it does. But that also facilitates movement between front seats and the area without getting out of the vehicle. Very useful if you have a rock and roll (no middle seats) configuration.
nov Posted February 5 Posted February 5 On 2/3/2024 at 7:49 PM, Rojie said: Have you got one fitted to you Alphie ? Not an unreasonable price, imho, for the convenience. Does the console between the front seats need to be removed (to allow the rotation) ? On vans I have seen, it does. But that also facilitates movement between front seats and the area without getting out of the vehicle. Very useful if you have a rock and roll (no middle seats) configuration. Yes I do have one fitted, the middle console will need to go out as you said.
Duncan Grimmond Posted February 20 Author Posted February 20 The seats are two tone grey two rears and three mid row reversible. I'm using ordinary ply but will be laying vinyl flooring over it (sand and spilled wine doncha know!) with a proggy mat I now have the floor laid in and have the vinyl partially cut to fit. I've removed the central cubby box and find that the rear floor level heater duct sits 100mm or so above floor level. I am making a floor panel to sit on this with a tread mat. Does anyone have a pic of the revolving seat installed in the half-way round position? Will the seat clear this once installed? I don't want to start dismantling if it turns out I can't do this...
Duncan Grimmond Posted March 31 Author Posted March 31 I ordered a turntable for the front seat(£250 inc. postage) from Autocraft, they were out of stock but it arrived last Thursday, with no fitting instructions. On Friday I spent a good while staring it into submission and trying to work out how to fit it and eventually called a pal who did his a couple of years ago. He confirmed my conclusion that I had to remove the downturned mounting on the forward end of the sliding mechanism. Saturday I took the seat out having removed the plastic filler panels and the wiring under the seat. There seems to be only a pair of wires actually in use on the seat and I removed them as far back as I could from the connectors. Cut the downturn off and reduced the height of the location pins from 30mm to 8mm to allow rotational clearance on the turntable, 4 short M8 Allen countersunk screws and locknuts fitted to hold it on. Two 8mm holes are needed in the slider track to replace the holes lost on the downturn. I then replaced the whole assembly on the seat bearing frame using the original mounting hex head screws. 3 1/2 hours (which could have been 2 1/2 had I not been interrupted) and job done.The wrap-around rear plastic trim needed to be cut down and its two locating pins pop into the rear off the frame and give a tidy finish. Easier, cheaper and much quicker than driving to the Isle of Wight!
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